Determination of soil contamination sources in mining area using Zn/Cd ratios with mobile Cd

Paddy fields near metalliferous mining area are sometimes contaminated by tailings or mine water. In the contaminated paddy fields around the abandoned Seoseong mine, South Korea, groundwater, surface water, and soil samples were assessed to infer sources (tailings and/or mine water) of soil contamination. Major contaminants in the soil included As and Pb which were not detected in the adit water. Moreover, δ34SSO4 values of groundwater at contaminated downstream paddy fields were higher than those of ground and surface water in the mining area, which indicated water-derived contamination is not evident. The Zn/Cd ratios of soil were assessed to verify the source (tailings) of soil contamination. Plots of the Zn/Cd ratio against Zn and As contents showed that soil samples contaminated from tailings had Zn/Cd ratios (108–247) which were similar with the Zn/Cd range of the tailings. In contrast, the ratios of the soil samples were different from the Zn/Cd range of contaminated water samples. The Zn/Cd ratios were determined using 0.1 M HCl-extractable Cd, and the fraction of 0.1 M HCl-extractable Cd in aqua regia-digestible Cd increased with increasing aqua regia-digestible Cd content. These observations suggest that Zn/Cd ratios in contaminated soil are primarily controlled by 0.1 M HCl-extractable Cd, possibly due to the greater exchangeability of 0.1 M HCl-extractable Cd than that of total Cd. This suggests that Zn/Cd ratios determined using 0.1 M HCl-extractable Cd can be especially sensitive and useful for determining sources of soil contamination in mining areas such as tailings or contaminated water.